Basic to Medic no break?

I would like to hear some opinions from those who right to medic school from basic class. I finished my basic last spring and went right into a intro A&P and disease class this summer. I start Medic in August.. I was just wondering if people have a hard time with no field experience while in medic school?

where are you going to school in the CLE area and I will tell you if you will have a hard time or not.

Non scholae sed vitae discimus
Disclaimer: I am old school and part of a hardcore circle. There are no awards for 9th place. If I tell you that you did a good job it is because you did. If you always want to hear how great you are ask your mom.

This has been debated to death. There are many people on here that say it would be idiotic to not get a minimum of one year field experience as a basic before starting medic.

I laugh at these people

From my personal experience from the student and teacher side, I see no reason to wait and gain experience. I had zero experience and was at the top of my medic class. There are others here the same way.

From the teaching side, it appears that students that go right through tend to fair better and have higher first-time pass rates. Perhaps they haven't had the time to develop bad habits. Obviously this is anecdotal an I don't have evidence to back this; just my observations. The people I see come back to class for studying help after failing tend to be the first responders or "experienced basics".

Before I piss anybody off, obviously there will be exceptions. I know there are many basics that have experience, go through medic and rape it.

OP, try and search this topic on here. You will find many view points on this very issue. My advice; if you feel comfortable going straight through, go for it. The A&P class you are taking will definitely benefit you throughout medic. Absorb everything you can in your A&P class.

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
-George Bernard Shaw

This has been debated to death. There are many people on here that say it would be idiotic to not get a minimum of one year field experience as a basic before starting medic.

I laugh at these people

From my personal experience from the student and teacher side, I see no reason to wait and gain experience. I had zero experience and was at the top of my medic class. There are others here the same way.

From the teaching side, it appears that students that go right through tend to fair better and have higher first-time pass rates. Perhaps they haven't had the time to develop bad habits. Obviously this is anecdotal an I don't have evidence to back this; just my observations. The people I see come back to class for studying help after failing tend to be the first responders or "experienced basics".

Before I piss anybody off, obviously there will be exceptions. I know there are many basics that have experience, go through medic and rape it.

OP, try and search this topic on here. You will find many view points on this very issue. My advice; if you feel comfortable going straight through, go for it. The A&P class you are taking will definitely benefit you throughout medic. Absorb everything you can in your A&P class.

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This A&P class was only 8 weeks and was just an intro class not a full blown remember everything class.. It has helped some but was alot to take in being only an 8 week class.

Field experience probably makes little difference for most in the classroom. However, once in the internship, it makes all the difference. The interns with little to no experience struggle once on the bus. There may be exceptions but, they are few and far between.

Field experience probably makes little difference for most in the classroom. However, once in the internship, it makes all the difference. The interns with little to no experience struggle once on the bus. There may be exceptions but, they are few and far between.

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That is what i'm going to be worried about being lost once on the squad.. My city has volly ems but between and school not sure if want to commit to that yet..but would love some experience.

It's not going to take a medic student/intern long to get to the level a basic with experience will be at. That's a very small jump to make. He may be a little shy initially, but that should be overcome in a short matter of time. I can't think of anything that a basic would excel at other than talking to the patient and doing an assessment.

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
-George Bernard Shaw

Where lack of experience will show is when you are on your own with no experience other then your internship in controlling chaotic scenes or transitioning your scene flow.

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And how does having a year or two of being a basic make you any better? Where do the majority of basics get their experience? Private ambulances? I fail to see how playing the dialysis derby makes you more prepared for this... And even if it's 911, if you're working with a medic, odds are you are getting tons of experience on knowing where equipment is at. There are few EMT-B jobs that would do a good job at preparing you for chaotic scenes and handling a critical patient. That is something that the hiring company should address during their orientation/intern/third rider program.

And remember just because somebody can be top of his class and float through the didactic portion of school does not equate to a good patient care provider.

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And remember just because somebody has years of experience, he can still be an idiot and a poor patient care provider.

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
-George Bernard Shaw

The 20 years ive been doing this has always been FT on a 911 truck or in the ED. I often forget that alot of EMT and medics never actually work 911 and do IFT only.

So I stand somewhat corrected. Experience on a 911 truck would be what i had meant.

And your right you can pick up bad habits while working with poorly trained and skilled partners. What I would hope of any new ALS provider is to look back at his partners and pick out the good and discard the bad that they saw happening and incorporate it into there own practice

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2012

I battle Darwin using only a toothbrush!

Instructor of the alphabet soup
BLS/ACLS/PALS/PEPP/PHTLS/CEVO/MICP.........

*My statements are my opinion and do not reflect those of my employer*

I would agree. If you could get quality experience as a 911 provider, then I could see you being better prepared to be a new medic in the field. Sadly, those jobs are few and far between. At least down here they are.

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
-George Bernard Shaw

Field experience probably makes little difference for most in the classroom. However, once in the internship, it makes all the difference. The interns with little to no experience struggle once on the bus. There may be exceptions but, they are few and far between.

Click to expand...

I must be an exception then. I had a total of 5 months experience as an Intermediate on an ALS 911 truck when my internship started and I didn't have a problem. Only experience I had prior to school was Ski Patrol and Beach Patrol/Lifeguard.

Few in my class had any experience and everyone passed and did just fine in their internships.

You don't need experience to go to medic school and become a good medic. If having experience makes you feel more comfortable then that's your choice. It's going to depend on the person. There isn't a one-fits-all answer to this question.

If you are socially awkward you aren't going to be great at this job with or without experience. As long as you can talk to people and can lead you'll be fine.

fast65;393776 said:

I have realized it's easier to bring my medical director a milk shake and ask for forgiveness, than it is to ask for permission.

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*My statements are my opinion and do not reflect those of my employer*

It could depend on where you live I live in Northeast ohio and they tell you just get your education first then experience. You can't work for many fire departments around here unless a medic so that is everyone's mentality just knock all your EMS training out at once.

Being an EMT if only for a short while gives one the experience of dealing with patients, family, co-workers, other medical staff, different scene dynamics, how to manuever a gurney, getting patients out of homes/facilities, paperwork, hospital ringdowns, etc. My job as a preceptor is not to teach these things to someone with no experience. As an EMT, you should know how to do these things at least in the most beginning fashion.

It also gives one the experience/knowledge to determine whether or not this career is for them. I have had a few 'terns that were inexperienced whom became very disenchanted with the job (all the BS) once it began.

To NVRob; as I stated there are exceptions. And just because everyone passed in your class does not mean there were not struggles that may have been non-existent with some experience. Besides, the only way to really know how you did would be to talk to your preceptor

This has been debated to death. There are many people on here that say it would be idiotic to not get a minimum of one year field experience as a basic before starting medic.

I laugh at these people

From my personal experience from the student and teacher side, I see no reason to wait and gain experience. I had zero experience and was at the top of my medic class. There are others here the same way.

Click to expand...

I think the main advantage of working for a bit as a basic is that you get a chance to develop your people skills. I know many medics that are technically brilliant but who's interpersonal skills and bedside manner suck. Granted that may or may not have been different if they had been a basic for a while first but I think it might have helped.

The views, opinions, and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views, policies, or goals of any organization that I am affiliated with.

While everyone is different, I think that a Basic should spend time (maybe 6 months) doing work as a Basic before going to Medic School. The reason is that there are lots of little things that a student should know, or at least be comfortable doing, before going on. If there was a "zero to hero" course that included ongoing experiences so that the students could be comfortable with that stuff along the way and when they're ready for their field time, they'll hit the ground running. We do that with other healthcare programs, but we don't do it with EMS. We divide the didactic and internships into separate portions of the programs...

Everyone here has made some great points I'm already signed up and ready to start in a few weeks.. I may try to see if there are any openings at my local volly department,so I'm not going into medic blind.

As far as passing the academic work I have no doubt that an EMT could move into the paramedic knowledge level, however once you are a paramedic on the streets your experience or lack there of will often determine how well you can put your knowledge to use. More knowledge is always a good thing, but without the ability to perform some functions without having to exert mental capacities on them you may find yourself struggling to complete patient care. This is true at the BLS level and even more so at the ALS level.

If you do go through paramedic school without any field experience besides your clinicals I suggest you try and get paired with a good medic who can mentor you.